article · Agronomy
Cadmium contamination in agricultural soils impairs crop development and introduces toxic elements into the food chain. Evaluating organic amendments in cadmium-spiked soil revealed that treatments using cow manure and sugarcane press mud significantly alleviated cadmium toxicity in mash beans. Exposure to cadmium reduced plant growth, yield, photosynthetic pigments, leaf water status, and antioxidant activities, while elevating oxidative stress markers. The introduction of organic amendments countered these toxic effects. A five per cent application of sugarcane press mud proved most effective, boosting mash bean growth and yield by enhancing leaf water status, protein content, and free amino acids. Furthermore, this treatment reduced cadmium uptake by eighteen per cent and lowered oxidative damage markers, including hydrogen peroxide and electrolyte leakage, by strengthening the plant antioxidant defence mechanisms.
Cadmium contamination in agricultural land threatens crop production and creates human health risks when toxic metals enter food supplies. Utilizing widely available organic waste products, such as sugarcane press mud, offers an accessible method to protect mash bean yields, improve plant stress tolerance, and limit the accumulation of hazardous heavy metals in dietary staples.
This applied research indicates potential for developing soil remediation products derived from sugarcane processing by-products. The primary users would be legume growers operating on heavy-metal-contaminated land and agricultural input manufacturers seeking organic soil conditioners. The technology is at an applied and tested stage under experimental soil conditions, meaning field trials and application standardisation are necessary prior to commercial use.
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Cadmium (Cd) stress is a serious environmental hazard that has devastating impacts on plant growth and productivity. Moreover, the entrance of Cd into the human food chain by eating Cd-contaminated food also poses serious health issues. Organic amendments (OA) possess an excellent potential to reduce the adverse impacts of Cd stress. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the potential of different OA in improving the mash beans growth and yield grown under Cd-contaminated soil. The soil was spiked with different concentrations of Cd (0, 10 and 20 mg/kg) and subjected to different OA, i.e., control, cow manure (5%), sugarcane press mud (5%) and a combination of cow manure (2.5%) and sugarcane press mud (2.5%). Results indicated that Cd stress induced a significant reduction in growth and yield traits, leaf water status, photosynthetic pigments, protein accumulation and anti-oxidant activities. However, the application of OA appreciably reduced the Cd-induced toxic effects and caused a significant increase in growth and yield. The application of 5% sugarcane press mud remained the top performer and it increased the mash bean growth and yield through improved photosynthetic pigments, leaf water status (56%) and reduced Cd uptake (18%), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production (38.52%), electrolyte leakage (EL) (42.13%) malondialdehyde (MDA) accumulation (55.88%) and increased accumulation of soluble protein (60.15%) and free amino acids (54%) through improved activities of anti-oxidant enzymes. Therefore, these findings suggested that the application of sugarcane press mud enhanced the growth and yield through reduced Cd accumulation, enhanced photosynthetic pigments, leaf water status, protein and amino accumulation and reduced H2O2, EL and MDA accumulation through a stronger anti-oxidant defense system.
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DOI: 10.3390/agronomy11112152
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